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Episode 11
Episode 11 "It's a Fierce Battle!" "Gekisen desu!" (激戦です ! ) is the eleventh episode of Girls und Panzer. Plot Following the ambush and the loss of Anteater Team, Ooarai forces regroup on the go and retreat under the cover of smokescreens. Kuromorimine follows, confident that Ooarai will not be able to get away due to the weak engine of the Tiger (P), but Ooarai maintains speed on the uphill by having their other tanks tow the Porsche Tiger. Turtle Team harasses the Kuromorimine forces, blowing the tracks off a Jagdpanther and Panther, slowing the attack long enough for Ooarai to adopt defensive positions atop a hill. Kuromorimine launches a frontal assault on the Ooarai position. Although a Panther and Jagdpanzer IV are immobilized, Ooarai firepower is insufficient to overcome the fearsome armor of the Jagdtiger. Just as Kuromorimine closes on the Ooarai tanks, Turtle Team approaches from behind, driving their Hetzer into the very midst of the Kuromorimine lines, causing them to panic from the close range threat. Ooarai's renewed bombardment eliminates another tank and charges through as the formation falls apart. Erika gives chase alone, and has a clear shot when Anglerfish Team use their tank to shield the automobile club members, who are performing repairs on their tank. However, the heavy Tiger II is unsuited to high-speed cross-country driving, and the tracks snap, costing Erika the shot. Ooarai makes it away whilst Kuromorimine pull back into formation, but are blocked by a river. Whilst crossing, the M3 Lee's engine fails, leaving Rabbit Team stranded in the water, at the mercy of the current. Whilst terrified of a repeat of the previous year's scenario, Miho is encouraged by her friends to save the first years, and hence abandons her post to take a tow cable to the M3, leaping across the backs of tanks to reach the stricken vehicle. Covering fire from other Ooarai tanks and a harassment attempt by the student council fails to delay the Kuromorimine advance, but Miho successfully gets the tow cable hooked onto the M3 Lee, and the disabled tank is towed to safety. Rabbit Team successfully restarts the engine once out of the water, and Ooarai escape just as Kuromorimine shells rain down on the riverbank. Shadowed by only a single Panzer III scout, Ooarai retreats towards a town. En route, they cross a bridge, and Leopon Team puts their 60-ton tank into a wheelie, slamming back down on the bridge and demolishing it, such that the main Kuromorimine forces are required to take the long way around. Entering the urban area, Miho spots the Panzer III, which flees. Ooarai chase after the supposedly isolated scout tank. Just when they catch up to it, what appears to be an automated wall blocks their line of fire. It turns out to be Kuromorimine's trump card, the Pz. VIII Maus, the largest super-heavy tank ever built. Impervious to Ooarai's weapons, even those of the StuG III and Tiger (P), the Maus advances on the Ooarai vehicles, quickly taking out Mallard Team and Hippo Team. As Ooarai scramble to fall back, the scene cuts to the rest of the Kuromorimine tanks closing in on the town. Erika Itsumi grins upon hearing that the Maus has entered the battle. Characters Introduced *Jagdpanther Commander *Panther Commander *Panzer III Commander Tanks Appearing * PzKpfw. III Ausf.G * PzKpfw. VIII (VK100.01/V2) Maus Main Events *Ooarai uses smokescreens to escape from the Kuromorimine ambush. ("Operation Smokey" and "Operation Biker Gang") *Ooarai makes a stand atop a hill. *Kuromorimine assaults the hill. Three tanks are immobilised in the ensuing battle. *Ooarai breaks out and escapes. ("Operation Tease") *Whilst crossing a river, the M3 Lee breaks down. *Miho Nishizumi risks the match to save Rabbit Team. *Ooarai successfully escapes without losses. *Entering an urban area, Ooarai is lured into a trap by a Panzer III. *The super-heavy Maus tank appears. It immobilises the Renault B1 bis and the StuG III. Trivia *The bridge that Ooarai cross (and then demolish) is called the Reimangen Bridge. This could be a reference to the Battle of Remagen, wherein the Ludenorff Bridge, a bridge across the Rhine, was captured by US forces. The initial explosives set by the Germans to scuttle the bridge failed to detonate, and in the ensuing battle the Americans managed to protect the bridge against German attempts to destroy it. *The close range harassment of Turtle Team in "Operation Tease" is cited by Anzu Kadotani as the 'safest' way the charge in, according to a tank magazine she read. Although counter-intuitive, she is proved correct, as the Kuromorimine tanks are rendered unable to fire at the Hetzer by hazard of hitting each other. *Turtle Team destroys the tracks the same Jagdpanther twice at this stage in the match. The commander expresses anger and frustration at having to repair said tracks twice (likely also because her turret-less tank never has a chance to retaliate). In the Spin-off manga Motto Love Love Sakusen Desu! she is shown to have developed a furious grudge against crew of the Hetzer thanks this incident. *Turtle Team also drives right alongside a Panther tank to begin their disruption of the Kuromorimine formation. Although the Hetzer never fires during this operation, the Panther Commander is also mentally scarred by this incident, and harbours a similar hate for the Hetzer. **Whilst not certain, it is possible that this Panther was the same tank that also took a hit to the tracks when the Hetzer made its first ambush. *Erika Itsumi fires her tank's machine gun into the Ooarai smokescreen in frustration. However, the controls of the co-axial machine gun are in the hands of the vehicle's gunner, so it is not clear how show accomplishes this display. *The Maus was possibly introduced and deployed for the first time during this match. Miho Nishizumi did not mention it in her tactical analysis of the Kuromorimine formation in Episode 10, implying that she was not aware that Kuromorimine operated one. From their surprise and shock when seeing the Maus, neither Darjeeling nor Katyusha have evidently never seen it before either. * The ending sequence features Anglerfish Team in their new PzKpfw. IV Ausf.H. Category:Episodes